Missed
Opportunities for Medicare, by Terri Shaw, July 28, 2004The
new Medicare prescription drug benefit, signed into law by President
Bush in December 2003 and set to begin in January 2006, is widely
acknowledged to be the biggest change in the history of the
program.

Formulary
Policies Could Limit Access to Necessary Medications, by Jeffrey
S. Crowley, July 20, 2004A key feature of the Medicare
Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 is its
reliance on private insurers (stand alone-drug insurers and Medicare
Advantage plans) to negotiate drug prices and reduce program
costs.

No
Pot of Gold in Privatization, by Maya Rockeymoore, March 26,
2004Tuesday's release of the annual report of the Social
Security and Medicare trustees presented dark forecasts about the
state of the trust funds.

What
$80 Million for Medicare Ads Could Be Used For, March 16,
2004According to news reports, the Bush administration is now on
track to spend $80 million of taxpayer money this year for partisan
advertisements, inaccurate fliers and counterfeit newscasts to spin
the truth about the recently passed Medicare bill.

More
Administration Deceptions on Medicare Bill, March 15,
2004The public learned this weekend that the Bush administration
used actors posing as journalists to defend the Medicare bill in
television segments produced for local stations.

Prescription
Drug Reimportation: The Law and Its Problems, February 24,
2004The new Medicare law does little to lower U.S. drug prices
and thus prevent Americans from seeking less-expensive drugs from
Canada. Yet, the law allows the Secretary of Health and Human
Services to block efforts to implement safe systems for reimporting
less expensive, FDA-approved, U.S.-made drugs.

Prescription
Drug Prices: Harnessing Medicares Purchasing Power, by Terri
Shaw, January 28, 2004In his State of the Union address this
year, President Bush urged members of Congress to work with him to
help control the rising costs of medical care. Just months ago,
however, the president worked with Congressional leaders to block
attempts to control the fastest growing health care cost:
prescription drugs.

How
Would Elsie Blanton Fare?, January 21, 2004President Bush
invited Elsie Blanton, a senior from Apopka, Florida, to sit in the
gallery for his State of the Union address. Clearly Ms. Blanton
needs and deserves help with her prescription drug costs. But how
would she fare under the new Medicare law?

The
Halliburton of Medicare?, December 12, 2003On December 11,
2003, the American Progress Progress Report released an examination
of the relationship between President Bush and the owner of one of
the largest pharmacy benefits management companies in the U.S. Soon
after its publication, the story was widely cited, on December
12.

No
Cause for Celebration, by John Podesta, December 8,
2003Today, at the White House bill signing of the Medicare
legislation, backs will be slapped, corks will be popped and the
hands of smiling politicians will be firmly shaken.

The
Medicare Prescription Drug Compromise Bill, December 3,
2003The Medicare overhaul legislation approved by the House and
Senate last week has sparked heated debate across the country. The
following is a sample of editorials and op-eds that express the
trepidation of Medicare beneficiaries and concerned citizens.
America is analyzing the impetus behind the bills passage and its
effects on current and future generations.

Medicare
Prescription Drug Legislation: Concerns for Rural Beneficiaries,
November 14, 2003About 9 million Medicare beneficiaries live in
rural America and face special challenges in accessing prescription
drugs. Compared to urban beneficiaries, rural beneficiaries have
less prescription drug coverage, spend more for needed
prescriptions, and rarely have stable access to private health
insurance plans who will deliver the drug benefit under the recent
proposals.

Analysis:
Medicare Legislation, by Jeanne Lambrew, November 14,
2003The Republican leadership and Medicare conferees appear to
be in the final stages of hammering out an agreement on a Medicare
prescription drug benefit and other significant changes to the
Medicare system. Much is at stake.

For more information about the new Medicare law, including a
calculator for estimating the costs and benefits of the prescription
drug benefit that begins in 2006, visit the Families
USA Medicare Road Show.

Health Tax
Provision Being Pushed In Medicare Conference Poses Threats Both To
Long-Term Fiscal Policy And To The Employer-Based Health Insurance
System, October 27, 2003, Center for Budget and Policy
Priorities